Pitching and batting device



Sept. 30, 1969 J. J- KRUZEL 3,469,340

PITCHING AND BATTING DEVICE Filed Dec. 19, 1966 INVENTOR JOSEPH J.KRUZEL United States Patent 3,469,840 PITCHING AND BATTING DEVICE JosephJohn Kruzel. United States Air Force, CRM 1, Box 3, APO San Francisco96553 Filed Dec. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 602,606 Int. Cl. A63b 65/12, 67/10US. Cl. 273-26 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionrelates to a game apparatus which is played by two persons. One personpitches a tethered ball to the other person who swings at the pitchedball. My invention differs from the prior art as disclosed by Walden(US. Patent No. 2,680,022) and Albert (US. Patent No. 3,086,775) in thattwo persons play my invention at the same time. One person serves as apltcher while the other person serves as a batter.

An object of this invention is to provide a game apparatus which willallow a pitch and hit game to be played in a smaller area than presentlyrequired in any SLlIlllaI' pitch and hit game.

Another object of this invention is to provide a p1tch and hit gamewhere no ball retrieving is necessary.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a pitch and hitgame which may be played indoors.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a game apparatuswherein two persons may play at the same time, with one person servingas the pitcher and the other person serving as the batter.

A further object of this invention is to provide a game apparatus thatis more responsive to the competitive sp1r1t desired or associated withsporting games than present batting practice devices.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a game apparatuswhich will utilize the desire of a person to win.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will bereadily apparent from the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of myinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a detail view of an eye screw and a portion of a connector.

FIGURE 3 is a detail view of a pulley and portions of a traverse lineand a tether.

FIGURE 4 is a detail view of an S-hook and portions of two connectors.

FIGURE 5 is a detail view of a ball and a portion of a tether.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Alsoit is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the preferredembodiment of the 3,469,840 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 invention disclosedin FIGURES 1 to 5 inclusive consists of two supports 1 and 2, two eyescrews 3 and 4, two connectors 5 and 6, two S-hooks 7 and 8, a traverseline 9, a pulley 10, a tether 11 and a ball 12.

The supports 1 and 2 are placed upright at a predetermined distanceapart. I found that the minimum practical distance should be aboutsixty-two feet apart. In lieu of the two supports, two trees, the sideof a structure and a tree, the sides of two structures may be usedprovided they are of sufficient height.

Eye screw 3 is screwed into support '1 at a predetermined height. Eyescrew 4 is screwed into support 2 at the same height as eye screw 3 or agreater height. The height may vary from 10 feet to 16 feet.

Connector 5 is tied on one end to eye screw 3 and on the other end toS-hook 7. Connector 6 is tied on one end to eye screw 4 and on the otherend to S-hook -8. Connectors '5 and 6 should be about a half foot longerthan tether 11. If it is desired to dispense with eye screws 3 and 4,connectors 5 and 6 are tied to supports 1 and 2, respectively, at thesame height that eye screws 3 and 4 would have been screwed in. In whichevent, the length of connectors 5 and 6 must be increased to compensatefor the extra portion which is utilized in tying the connectors to thesupports.

One end of traverse line 9 is secured to S-hook 7 and the other end issecured to S-hook 8.. The length of traverse line 9 may vary dependingon the space available. I have found the minimum practical distance tobe around forty-six feet. Anything less may place the pitcher too closeto the batter to assure reasonable safety from being hit by the battedball. Traverse line 9 is suspended horizontally at a predeterminedheight above the ground, usually from 10 to 16 feet, to permit "ball 12to be tossed or thrown in a trajectory below the traverse line so as toplace the ball at a point that where it can be swung at or hit byanother person positioned below the opposite end of the traverse line.

Traverse line 9 may be made out of any suitable material which will notstretch appreciably. After extensive experimentation I have found thatfive strand or six strand galvanized clothesline to be the mostpractical, but that solid wire or even a cord may be used.

Pulley 10 travels along the length of traverse line 9. A single pulleyor a double pulley of approximately two inches may be used. Singlepulley is shown in FIGURE 3. A double pulley is more durable than asingle pulley and would permit freer movement of tether 11 and 'ball 12when ball 12 is pitched or batted. The double pulley envisioned by theinventor includes a large grooved wheel and a small grooved wheelrotatably mounted between two arms of a bracket. The small grooved wheelis situated below the large grooved wheel and about one half inch abovethe juncture of the arms. Traverse line 9 passes between the largegrooved wheel and the small grooved wheel. Tether 11 is tied to thedouble pulley at the juncture of the arms.

Tether 11 has one end tied to pulley 10 and the other end tied to ball12. Ball 12 is secured to tether 11 by passing one end thereof through ahole in ball 12 and by tying a knot or two. Tether 11 is made of nyloncord of approximately a quarter inch diameter. I prefer nylon cordbecause of its flexibility and light weight, as opposed to wire or achain encased in a rubber" hose. It permits the flight path of "ball 12to most closely stimulate or approximate the natural flight path of :aball when it is pitched or batted. Ball 12 may be either a baseball or asoftball.

The length of tether 11 will depend on the height of traverse line 9above the ground at the point over the batters position. It should belong enough to extend from the traverse line to a point above the groundaround knee height, which would be around one and a half feet. If alonger tether is provided, it may be shortened to the desired length bycutting and re-tying it to the pulley or ball.

' To prevent tether 11 and ball 12 from entangling on or damagingsupports 1 and 2, the distance that pulley 10, tether 11, and ball 12travel when ball 12 is pitched or hit is controlled by S-hooks 7 and 8,which are situated at an appropriate distance from supports 1 and 2. Anappropriate distance would be one which will not permit ball 12 tostrike supports 1 and 2. Connectors and 6 are made about a half footlonger than tether 11 for this reason. In lieu of S-hooks, turnbucklesmay be used. Turnbuckles are useful in taking up any slack which mightoccur when forces brought to bear on traverse line 9 cause it tostretch.

My invention is played by two persons in the following manner: (1) Myinvention is set up so that traverse line 9 is suspended horizontallyabout ten feet above the ground, pulley is on traverse line 9, andtether 11 is tied at one end to pulley 10 and at the other end to ball12. (2) First player positions himself below S-hook '8 with ball 12. (3)Second player positions himself below S-hook 7 with a bat. (4) Firstplayer pitches ball 12 to second player. (5) Second player swings bat atpitched ball 12. If he hits ball 12, pulley 10 will travel alongtraverse line 9 until it is stopped by S-hook 8. First player will thenretrieve the ball. If second player misses ball 12, pulley 10 will bestopped by S-hook 7. Second player will then retrieve the ball and throwit to first player. (6) First player then pitches ball 12 to secondplayer and the game continues until the players change positions or quitplaying. The object of the game is to see who can get the most strikeouts, most hits, and most harder hits.

I have invented a game apparatus which differs from present day battingpractice devices in that two persons play my invention at the same time.One person serves as a pitcher while the other person serves as abatter. My invention is more responsive than present batting practicedevices to the competitive spirit desired or associated with sportinggames in that it provides a batter versus pitcher efiort. My inventionutilizes the desire of a person to win so that playing my invention willnot be as tedious as playing with present day batting practice devices.

My invention may be played in a smaller area than presently required inany similar pitch and hit game because the distance that the ball maytravel is limited. Thus my invention may be played indoors. The lengthof traverse line 9 may be lengthened or shortened from the suggestedforty-six feet depending on the available playing space. In additionconnectors 5 and 6 may be lengthened if the distance between supports isgreater than provided for.

Although but a single embodiment of my invention has been disclosed anddescribed herein, it is obvious that many changes may be made in thesize, shape, arrangement, and detail of the various elements of theinvention without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of thepresent invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A game apparatus for two persons comprising a traverse line, apulley, a tether, a ball, two S-hooks, and means for connecting theapparatus to supports, the pulley being on the traverse line andtraveling along the length of the traverse line, one end of the tetherbeing connected to the pulley and the other end being secured to theball, the two S-hooks being connected to the ends of the traverse line,and the means for connecting the apparatus to supports being secured tothe two S-hooks and being connected to supports so that the traverseline is suspended horizontally.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,680,022 6/1954 Walden 273262,929,632 3/1960 Moifatt 27329 X 2,942,883 6/1960 Moore 27326 3,086,7754/1963 Albert 273-26 FOREIGN PATENTS 408,160 4/1934 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner T. BROWN, Assistant Examiner

